Research Methods Specialist - Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics

Through its core values of Courage, Respect and Excellence, CAMH is implementing its Strategic Plan: Connected CAMH, to transform lives, ignite innovation and discovery, revolutionize education and drive social change. CAMH is more than a hospital, it is a cause. CAMH is on a mission to change the way society thinks about and responds to mental illness. They aim to eliminate prejudice and discrimination and shape a world where mental illness is central to our healthcare system - a world where Mental Health is Health.

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The Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics (KCNI) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) harnesses the power of high-performance computing to integrate and analyze the wealth of data generated about the brain. Our research is conducted in an open science environment, with an emphasis on reproducible, data-driven research and a patient-centric approach to accelerate the identification and treatment of mental illness. Collaboration is central to transforming our understanding of mental health and its treatment, and to helping shape policy at national and global levels.

Position Description:

The Laboratory for Computational Genomics (https://triplab.org/) within KCNI is currently seeking a casual Research Methods Specialist (RMS) to support large-scale, data-intensive research projects. The successful candidate will serve in a specialist computational and data coordination role to support multiple ongoing studies. The RMS will act as a key computational lead on projects aimed at studying how the brain and its cellular architecture change in psychiatric and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, autism and epilepsy. The position will also support projects that bridge longitudinal clinical phenotyping with biobanking and genomics in neuroscience research.

A key aspect of the role will be coordinating data entry, harmonization, and egress across diverse database systems used in research projects at CAMH. The RMS will work with datasets from humans and animal models that span multiple data types, including genotyping array data, plasma biomarkers, REDCap, and electronic health record data. Additional projects in the laboratory involve multi-modal single-cell genomics, transcriptomics, and cellular electrophysiology datasets. Expertise in these areas is expected. This position is located at the 250 College Street.

The primary responsibilities of this position include:

• Work closely with clinical and preclinical investigators to support study design, data flow, and analysis planning
• Coordinate and oversee data ingestion, harmonization, quality control, and submission to centralized research databases
• Design, plan, and execute integrative analyses that cut across data types
• Develop, maintain, and document high quality computational scripts and reproducible analysis workflows
• Provide statistical and data analysis support to each project
• Coordinating research activities, including communication with collaborators and data partners
• Lead or substantially contribute to manuscript preparation and grant submissions
• Performing routine administrative tasks, including meeting scheduling as and when required
• Support research ethics board submissions
• Contributing to research discussions and directions in formal and informal settings
• Contribute to and cultivate a strong, positive lab and centre culture and a supportive and inclusive working environment

• Minimum Honours BSc in neuroscience, molecular biology, bioinformatics, or a related discipline with a minimum of 5 years work experience
• Well-developed interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate with researchers, students, and staff in a team environment
• Excellent project- and time-management skills for independent work and team projects
• Demonstrated problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Well-developed written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrable experience, including multiple publications, with expertise working on diverse data types, including genomics, human subjects data, and animal models data
• Research experience in bioinformatics, genomics, neuroscience, and molecular biology
• Demonstrable R, Python, and Unix shell programming experience with excellent documentation practices

Please Note: This casual position is a part of the OPSEU bargaining unit.